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GameCentral readers admit to whether they have any loyalty to a particular company, console, or video game franchise.

The subject for this week’s Hot Topic was suggested by reader Alberto, who asked whether you consider yourself loyal to anything in gaming? Do you defend whatever it is online and how do you feel your loyalty is rewarded by the companies in question?

The surprising thing about this Hot Topic was that the smallest percentage of answers was people admitting they had a loyalty to a particular console. Instead it was trusted developers that proved the most popular, although few considered their loyalty to be without question.

Prove yourself

This is a good question because I assume most people don’t like to think of themselves as being ‘loyal’ or following things just out of habit or blind faith, but it’s pretty obvious that happens a lot in games fandom. Defending games and companies in particular is such a staple of online life that I think it’s pretty obvious that some people enjoy it more than actually playing the games. Or at least put more thought and energy into it.

It’s like any other fandom I suppsoe, except with games there’s an awful lot of money involved in proving your loyalty and arguments are hard to fake unless you’ve actually played a game properly. (Or maybe not, as that would account for the poor quality of Internet debate in general).

I have a number of favourite games and creators but I don’t think I’d be loyal enough to them to knowingly buy a subpar game. Although it’s true I’d be more inclined to buy an okay-ish Resident Evil game, for example, than I would for a game from another franchise. There’s no doubt loyalty exists, for even the most rational people, but it’s never really a good thing.Toast

All that matters

I wouldn’t say that I’m blindly loyal to any gaming company no matter what they put out but based on reputation there are a few developers that I will always buy their games day one, providing that they have reviewed well, as expected.

These developers are Rockstar, Rocksteady, Naughty Dog, Drinkbox Studios, Futurelab, and Valve’s single-player games when they release them once in a blue moon. Other developers I will only buy if it has reviewed well, even if I have played all the previous iterations in a certain franchise.

I’m not normally too fussed about the story in games unless it’s exceptional so I will happily not see the conclusion to a franchise I have played if the gameplay is poor.Angry_Kurt (Twitter)
Now playing: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

Mostly loyal

This is a tricky one because loyalty is strong word. I’m sure it does describe many people’s connection to certain companies and franchises but while I’m a great fan of Nintendo’s work and would be interested in most things they’d do as a matter of course I don’t think there’s anything of there’s I’d buy without first checking a few sources.

I’m loyal enough to give everything they do a chance, and to give them a second or third chance on most things, but I wouldn’t just buy one of their consoles or games without good logical reasons. Or at least that’s what I tell myself. The thing with Nintendo is that 9/10 their stuff is good and you end up getting it, so you never really make a choice.

I guess the Wii U was the closest to getting stuff on faith but while the console was a failure I’m not sure I’d really classify it as a waste of money or anything because I did have a lot of fun with the games that were released on it. So yes, I guess I am loyal to them to a degree… just not blindly loyal.Tigger

Loyalty bombs

Years ago I would have been happy to say I was loyal to lots of different things in games: Nintendo, Final Fantasy, Castlevania, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, etc. But ever since social media weaponised loyalty I’ve begun to feel more uneasy about the whole concept.

I like these things and would quite happily defend individual games and consoles but I think it’s when you start defending whole brands that you move from being just a fan to a mix between a corporate stooge and fanatic.

Perhaps worse than that you just start arguing for the sake of it, refusing to budget or acknowledge a counter-argument simply because it’s not what you want to hear. That’s hard to do in real-life but basically the life blood of the internet. So yeah, I recognise Resident Evil 6 is not a great game and I’d argue it’s positive sides in person, but I’d probably avoid doing it online just as much because of the sort of people that would be on my side as compared to those that would argue with me.Superted

Eyes wide open

Based on current evident I suppose I’d have to admit that I am loyal to Xbox, sort of. I now realise that I didn’t put much thought into buying the Xbox One. After loving the Xbox 360 and knowing that to be the go-to console of the last gen I just got the new one by default. I knew of the controversy but it didn’t really make much of an impression on me, which I guess is a sign that I was too overly loyal.

And I was punished for it: the weakest console with very few major exclusives (good job I like racing games, is all I can say). It has opened my eyes a little though as I will certainly be giving more careful consideration to which team I play for, as it were, next time.

I know some friends that have switched between Xbox and PlayStation multiple times and before I’ve kind of always looked down on them as… indecisive? I don’t know what you’d call it really but it always made it seem like they weren’t really as committed. I now view them as being more sensible and will be more cautious myself in the future.Deli

No questions asked

I think we’re all loyal to something. The more normal thing to admit is a football team or musician but I certainly couldn’t ever imagine myself not buying a Rockstar or Naughty Dog game. There’s probably others as well but those two being involved means I don’t need to worry about pre-release hype or reviews or anything else – I’ll just get them automatically, no questions asked. And I haven’t been disappointed yet.

I’m not suggesting that’s a good thing in general but I think the small output of those companies means that it’s a risk you can afford to take (and probably the reason they always turn out good).Johnson

Caveat emptor

The only thing in gaming that I’m loyal to is quality games, regardless of the company that provides them. Sure, there are software houses that I’ll look forward to their latest release but even that can’t be trusted wholeheartedly/ I mean how many people have bought Fallout 76 on the back of the franchise or Bethesda’s name? And not even Nintendo have a 100% record.

I’ve been gaming since the ‘80s and I’ve lived through the Commodore/Spectrum, NES/Master System, SNES/Mega Drive and so on and so forth with all the pointless arguments that went with it and even continue now. I couldn’t care less who makes the plastic box that sits under my TV and I long for the day where one machine will play all, although that’s more to do with not having to buy three or four consoles each generation.

I’ve never understood how people can have blind loyalty to a corporation that wants nothing but your money and after they have it couldn’t really care less about anything but making more money. It’s the simple premise of every company on Earth: you make a desirable product, you market it accordingly to create a need, consumer buys product and company makes money – regardless of what they sell.

This all seems a bit dour when I read it back but all I’m saying is I’ll buy or buy into quality products regardless who makes them, if I go back to my first sentence I’ll finish on a cheeky note by saying that I do think of myself as being loyal to GC. I’ve read every day and sometimes contributed since the Teletext/Digitiser days and you’ve even outlasted a 20-odd year Edge subscription that got cancelled a couple of months ago!Mr.Saveloy